peppermint tea
by RebelzHeart
Summary: Peter meets Pepper. Part 12 of a cup of tea series.


When the holiday season rolls around in a flurry of snow and ice, wind sweeping through an open window and cars slipping on ice like cats in water, it's met with great joy.

Well.

Kind of.

 _Peter_ meets it with great joy.

"Snow!" He exclaims excitedly to Matt, eyes bright and lips pulled into a bright smile. "We can... we can make snowmen and snow forts and have _snowball_ fights and omigosh I've never seen so _much_ snow this is so _cool_!"

 _Matt_ , on the other hand...

"It's _cold_ is what it is," Matt, eternally doomed to act like a grumpy old man, groans.

"I hate to agree with Halloween costume over here, but he's right," Jessica echoes the sentiment, taking a sip of her coffee and making a face at Peter when he offers her the Puppy Dog Eyes. "Oh, lay off, kid, it's not beer."

"Coffee's not good for you either," Peter points out, crossing his arms over his shoulders.

"Well, boo hoo," Jessica rolls her eyes and raises an eyebrow, "I'm doing better, and that's what matters."

Peter, the Literal Human Embodiment of a Puppy Dog that he is, beams at her. "You're right," He chirps. _Chirps._

 _The fucking kid will be the death of me,_ Jessica thinks, and oh god, was that _fondness_?

She's gone soft.

She's proud of this kid.

She... horrors above horrors... is getting attached.

Attached to the _pipsqueak_.

"Oh god," Jessica realizes out loud, "I think that I _like_ you."

Peter, that oblivious idiot, pats her arm and says, "I know, Mrs. Jones. I know that it's very shocking, to realize that you have feelings other than hatred, anger and complete apathy, but there are these things called 'positive emotions' and..."

"Oh, shut it, kid," Jessica shoved her hands in her pockets and sighed, her breath billowing out in a cloud of pale smoke.

Peter, apparently having felt that his point had been made, beamed, and did just so. He skipped over to Matt and took his hand, cheerfully swinging their arms and pulling onwards.

Matt leaned over, grinning, "You've made Jess a softy."

Peter mirrored Matt's expression and answered, "She already was."

Jessica groaned.

 _Fucking holidays._

* * *

Tony prepares for the holidays by throwing cash at Pepper and saying, "Get yourself something nice."

She looks at the money, then back at Tony, and sighs, "At least it's not a giant... stuffed creature... again."

Tony sticks out his lower lip and crosses his arms over his chest, "Excuse _you_ , that was a perfectly good gift, and anybody with anything even resembling good taste would have appreciated it plenty."

"You mean you," Pepper pokes his chest, a small smile quirking up the edges of her lips, "You're the only one who would appreciate something so garish."

"I am very offended," Tony says.

"I'm sure," Pepper says.

He's not offended, and she knows.

God, he loves her.

"You didn't just throw money at the kid, did you?" Pepper raises an eyebrow and leans forward, resting an elbow on Tony's shoulder.

Tony shifts awkwardly, "Nooo..." he pulls her arm from his shoulder and kisses the back of her hand. "I didn't exactly, um, well... _throw_ it, per say."

Pepper, despite Tony's efforts to seem genial, is perfectly unimpressed. "Then what _'exactly_ ', did you do?"

"I..." Tony smiles awkwardly, "I just made a deposit for his post-secondary education funds, is all."

" _Tony_."

"Aw, come on, Peps, let me have my fun," Tony swung their hands, "It's no big deal, anyway. I'll get him something cooler next Christmas, promise. Maybe a car...?"

"Tony, _no_."

"Tony, _yes_."

"Why do I love you?"

"Let me kiss you, and I'm sure your memory will be refreshed."

"Hm, alright," She leans forward to kiss the back of his hand, "Ah, right. You're cute... in a kind of annoying way."

"You know that you love me."

"Yeah, but _why_."

He laughs, and she kisses him on the lips.

* * *

Pepper "officially" meets Peter when they drop by Matt's place.

(And by that, she means literally _drops by_ , because of _someone_ *cough*Mr. Tony "I-can't-drive-like-a-normal-human-noooo-I'm-going-to- _fly_ -in-my-suit" Stark*cough* hasn't a lick of common sense.)

Matt, for his part, seems mostly used to Tony's antics, and just opens the balcony door with the rise of an eyebrow. "Your suit is noisy," he grumbles, "Come in it again and I swear I'll chuck you over the side of the building."

Pepper, having met someone after her own heart, beams and holds out her hand. "You must be Matt," she greets him with a handshake and shoves a box of tea in his direction, "Thank you so much for putting up with Tony."

"It's a pleasure to see him," Matt says, a small smile pulling at the edge of his lips.

Pepper, for all her diplomatic tact, can't help but burst into laughter.

 _Blind jokes._ Of _course_ he makes blind jokes.

She can see him befriending Tony. Oh, yes, she definitely can.

"If you don't mind taking off your shoes before you come in," Matt runs his fingers through his hair, "I'll bring some slippers for you, Mrs. Potts," He soundly ignores Tony's protests of _what about me_ , "And you can meet Peter."

There's a small gasp. "No way! Omigosh is that actually _the_ Pepper...!"

"...Potts?" Pepper finishes Peter's sentence, slipping her high heels off and raising her chin, a slight smile gracing her lips. "Yes. It's nice to finally meet you, Peter. Tony hasn't shut up about you, and I decided that I needed to apologize to you for dealing with him."

Peter, having stepped into the living room in his Captain America pyjamas, can do Absolutely Nothing except gawk. "Oh. My. _Floozles_." He whispers, completely stunned.

Matt ducks his head and smiles, fond and sweet, and Pepper only has a moment to realize, _oh god, I'm going to get attached, aren't I_ before Peter seems to realize that he's still wearing his pyjamas and lets out an unholy shriek of horror.

"Matt, you didn't _warn me_!" He yelps, racing out of the living room with his arms flailing.

"I didn't think that you needed it!" Matt called back, laughing.

"Like heck you did!" Peter hollered, slamming the bedroom door behind him. "That's Pepper freaking Potts!"

"She's just human, kid!" Tony called out, amused.

"She is a _goddess_ , Mr. Stark, and I was willing to sell my soul to get a chance to meet her!"

Tony laughed, "Oh my _god_ , why."

"Because I'm a goddess, Tony," Pepper flicked his forehead and laughed, "Honestly, get with the program."

"We have..." Peter stumbled out of the bedroom, dressed in a slightly more formal sweater, "We have peppermint tea if you'd like it, Ms. Potts."

"That sounds fantastic," Pepper grinned sharply, "Tony, you ought to learn a thing or two from the kid."

Tony puffed his cheeks out into a pout, "But you love me just the way I am, right?"

Pepper patted Tony's cheek comfortingly, "Of course, sweetie."

Tony stuck his tongue out at Peter, the effect of which was ruined because Peter was still gawking at Pepper with what seemed like stars in his eyes. "Come on, kid, put those eyeballs back in your skull."

"No." Peter waved his hand in the air, "I need to take in the majesty."

"You're right, Tony," Pepper sounded amused, "He _is_ adorable."

Peter looked just about ready to faint.

Matt, for his part, just laughed.


End file.
